Nagasaki Kunchi

Kunchi, also known as Nagasaki Okunchi, is a festival in Nagasaki that Wikipedia describes as the city's best-known festival. Its presentations move out from 3 festival sites into the streets of the city.

Its folk performing arts include a dragon dance, a whale's spout, a drum dance and a Dutch dance. In the niwamise (garden showing) custom, the neighbourhoods presenting at the festival open their homes to the public.

The festival is expected to run from 7 to 9 October 2027. These dates follow a fixed yearly pattern and have not been confirmed for this edition. It takes place in Nagasaki, in Nagasaki Prefecture.

Performances are usually spread across the town, so part of the festival can be watched without a ticket. Reserved, ticketed seating at a temporary viewing stand has been offered in recent years, and some sessions have been by invitation only. These arrangements are not confirmed for 2027. The organiser is the Nagasaki Traditional Performing Arts Promotion Association.

The event began in the late 16th century as an autumn harvest celebration. It became a shrine festival after Suwa Shrine was founded in 1614.

The name kunchi comes from kunichi, a term for the ninth day of the lunar calendar's ninth month.

The dragon dance was at first danced on New Year's Eve by the city's Chinese residents. According to local accounts, the festival also served as a way to check for hidden Christians once Christianity had been banned.